


Jace's Song

by Bells_Hunt



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Jalec Secret Santa 2020, M/M, jalec - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bells_Hunt/pseuds/Bells_Hunt
Summary: My second work for Jalec Secret Santa 2020, still in progress!I have more written but so far this is what I will be posting today!Jace is on the run with his mother Céline, always moving from place to place, until, in the latest they get to, he meets a boy in the woods around his house, Alec Lightwood, and things finally start to change.This story is loosely structured by the song "Mary's Song" from Taylor Swift!I'm adding it to the collection since it was my first intended gift, before it got away from me.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Comments: 23
Kudos: 20
Collections: Jalec Secret Santa 2020





	1. I was eight and you were ten

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Takara_Phoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/gifts).



_Jace could hear the rustling steps behind him, heavy boots crushing the tapestry of leaves and twigs underneath them, leaving scars, whereas his own feet passed lightly, as light as shadows, or the feathered feet of Mercury. Which was partly how he liked to imagine himself. And though the closer he felt them, the faster he ran, he seemed unable to escape them. Always just a few dozen steps behind, hot on the pursuit, inexorable, relentless on their hunt and ready to close the distance as soon as he hesitated. So he didn’t._

_He jumped over rocks and logs, and zigzagged through the woods, in an attempt to confuse his hunter, but he knew that as far as he went that was as far as he’d be followed. Mother had said so, time and again. No matter where they went,_ **_**he** _ ** _would always find them._

_Finally, for a brief moment, the thumping in his head lessened, and he made a quick curve, rolling to hopefully put himself out of sight, and looking up and down and all around him with military efficiency, as he started to jump from hideout to hideout, hoping to lengthen his advantage, make himself invisible. Wouldn’t that be something?_

_He just had to go a little more, a little further, and he would find it──── He broke through to_ ** _ **his**_** _clearing with a triumphant smile. And ran right into a warm body._

His speed sent them rolling with audible huffs and one loud protesting yelp, along with a lot of elbows and unexpected kicking.

“What are you _doing_ here, in ****my**** clearing?” Jace asked, angrily as soon as he got a hold of the other, pinning him down underneath him despite their height difference, and glaring even as he panted.

Alec blinked up, dumbly, as he attempted to put this _boy_ , _this younger boy_ who had ****tackled**** and somehow _overpowered_ him, into focus. “ _Your clearing?”_ He huffed, annoyed, shoving at the blond, and getting even more ticked when he couldn’t make him budge on the first try. Why was he talking like he ****owned**** the place? “ _I_ come here ****every day****. Who are _you?”_ He asked, glaring furiously, and _this time_ managing to roll the other off of him, feeling some satisfaction when he heard him squeal.

He sat up and stared, distrusting and offended. The boy was _small_ , maybe two thirds his height at most, he was also _────_ Alec blushed and looked away, “you knocked all of my things!” He pointed out, clutching to the anger, so he wouldn’t have to think about whatever that spark in his stomach was all about.

“Sorry.”

Alec shot him an even more surprised glance, as the other got up and approached him, and actually started to _help_ him gather all of his homework and study notes; which had scattered some way across the clearing. “Here,” he said, before handing Alec a carefully stacked pile of his pages, which the older boy took, with a wary look, still. “Why did you tackle me?” He asked, demanding tone. The other seemed to blush, and then be annoyed at the very fact, as he turned away brushing his face to try and hide it.

“I didn’t _see_ you. Was not on purpose.”

_Oh_. His shoulders slumped, and he twisted his lips from side to side in thought. “You come here often? Cuz I do, and I never saw you.” 

Jace felt embarrassed. This older boy had clearly been here longer, maybe he lived nearby too? And he looked _tall_ and angry, which had him crossing his arms defensively, trying to make himself bigger too. He hadn’t ****meant**** to take the other down, he had just been going through his usual training run. It was _important_. He had to train being followed, or even hunted, run his drills, cuz if he did, then _when_ it happened again, he’d be safe. He’d be one step ahead. Or several if things went according to any of his multiple plans, and if his mother was willing to see how good they were and follow them this time. Maybe they could even _catch him_ , and be able to ****stop**** running.

“Is not your business.” He bit out, instinctively, then caved, “I’m ****new****.” He relented, figuring this boy _probably_ didn’t work with the ****enemy****. Not that he could ever be sure, he supposed, but something about the look on him made him feel a _little_ trustworthy, at least for now. “But I found this place all on my own, and it’s got good rocks and lots of space to run and fight in, so I _claimed_ it.”

The other boy scoffed.

“You can’t just _claim_ a whole ****place****. That’s not how things work. Besides. I’m older and _not_ new, so if anyone’s got rights it’s me. I come here every week to do my things.” He seemed to take a slow breath, as though he was calming himself, which Jace had seldom seen anyone do, specially so effectively. “But, maybe, we can _share_.”

It was Jace’s turn to blink. Surprised. They stared each other down for a few more long seconds, as though each was waiting for the other to crack. Jace wasn’t sure what to think. He had never had someone close to his age to talk to, or be around, before. Mother always said it was too dangerous to go outside (or to school), and even here, now, he was currently _disobeying_. It wasn’t something he ****liked**** doing, but he also couldn’t help himself. Not when it felt like he might just actually drown in all of the boredom inside _────_ all alone, in the latest empty, dark, house they’d moved into. He had tried to be good, for the first three days, and then he’d started thinking he could hear his brain _screaming_ as the clock dragged on and mom, it seemed, would never be back from work.

Finally, seeing as the other had made the noble offer first, one he didn’t have to, Jace figured it was his turn to do ****something****. So he stepped in, slowly, and watched the other boy’s eyes widen, as he got on his tiptoes and into his personal space, and plucked a large red leaf from his black hair. Jace showed it to him as evidence, and though he hadn’t meant to _offer_ it, Alec took it. He licked his lips and nodded, feeling his heart speed up weirdly.

“We can share.”


	2. I looked at you like the stars that shine in the sky

“You’re doing it wrong,” Alec heard the blond boy huff, and looked up to find him glaring down at him.

“Then come _show me.”_ He demanded. Alec’s lips quirked, before he put his book away and got up, walking towards him.

He’d started to learn, after the last couple of weeks, that demanding things was Jace’s way of _asking for help_. He seemed determined to not ****look**** like he needed it, as though there was some unspoken imperative need for him not to be _weak_ , but Alec didn’t mind it. He didn’t because once he started to actually teach, then Jace paid close attention, and was nothing if not curious, eager, and ready to follow instruction. He had never scoffed at him when Alec was trying to give him the help he’d asked for. So Alec didn’t care how he chose to ask for it.

Jace had been playing with Alec’s training bow for the last hour, while the latter got caught up on his studies. The blond liked to read too, a _lot_ it turned out _──_ and Alec had a hunch that perhaps the younger hadn’t had much of a variety in books, before _──_ but on some days, he was also discovering that Jace seemed just like a ball of ****unrestrained energy****. One that just _needed_ to be spent. Today was shaping up to be one of those.

“You don’t need your elbow so high, and you’re aiming too much.” He heard him huff again, and it made him smile.

“I’m ****aiming too much****??” He protested, and Alec chuckled.

“Yeah. Let me show you.”

The laughter had been happening too, quite a lot. Or a lot for someone that wasn’t used to laughing every day, like Alec. But something in Jace just seemed to pull it out of him. There was also that feeling, that _buzzing_ he felt whenever they touched, that came back now, as he put his hands on his arms and moved them, lowering and straightening, and getting even closer as he focused on positioning him correctly. Alec liked that buzzing.

“Now,” he said, after he was satisfied, and, together, they let go.

The training arrow hummed through the air, and triumphantly stuck near the center of the colorful target, which Alec had hung on one of the trees that morning, for him.

Jace’s small breath pulled him out of his bow-brain, as he called it, and Alec turned to look at the other, only to blink and blush as he stepped back. He hadn’t realized just _how close_ he’d gotten. Alec felt that way, around boys sometimes, he wasn’t sure why, but his sister Isabelle, seemed to know, and he’d noticed that it happened a lot more ****frequently**** around Jace.

“You just gotta... Am _───relax_. The tenser you’re being, the harder it’ll be.” He elaborated, scratching his nape, and looking away before looking back at him. “Just try to go for the _feeling_ of the direction you want, instead of squinting your eyes to aim. Got it?”

Jace looked a little stunned, though he nodded, “got it.” He turned, all serious, back towards the target, and grabbed another arrow from the quiver that was propped on the floor besides him. Alec watched with certain fascination as he positioned himself. At first, he did it the way he’d been doing it already, all this time, then he seemed to catch himself and relaxed. As he let go, a couple of minutes later, the arrow flew and for the first time actually stuck to the target, even if it was to the most outer circle on it.

The smile he gave Alec then, as he turned back to him, made the boy feel like his whole entire body and something else inside him was _fluttering_. It was weird. It almost felt like being sick, but somehow it was nice. Alec smiled back, “you did it!” Jace seemed even prouder then.

“I did!” Then his whole face lighted up with that golden light Alec was starting to associate with the boy. “Thanks.”

Alec shrugged, blushing. “You’re welcome.”

As Jace went back to training, Alec reluctantly returned to his homework.

He still remembered how it’d felt the first time Jace had seen him with the bow and quiver, a few days ago. How he’d felt like a superhero when the blond’s face opened in awe and he immediately started asking a hundred questions about it and _begging_ Alec to show him, and the to let him try, himself. Which Alec promptly had.

He wasn’t used to it, to feeling talented at anything, or important in any way, but from the first awkward day they’d shared, Jace had made him feel ****seen****. It was an addictive feeling. And though Alec might not be getting any more accustomed to it, in the slightest, he found himself getting used to the boy.

When he was in class, he couldn’t wait for school to end, and not to go home and be by himself, as it had always been, but to go home, grab his things and run to the clearing to meet him. Even when he’d just brought a dozen books, and they’d sat in silence, shoulder to shoulder, reading different ones all afternoon, it had still been one of the best days Alec could remember having.

There was so much about him that he didn’t know, and so much he suspected that Jace kept hidden away, but he was willing to wait for it, as long as it took, as long as he was _given_ time to find out. Jace got another one on the target and cheered, laughing. He did that a lot, laughed a lot, and Alec found himself smiling yet again at the sound, and he closed his book. He realized there was no chance of getting anything else done today, when watching Jace was so much more entertaining. So he let himself indulge in it. At least until Jace tired and wanted to do something else. Alec was happy to do whatever the other boy felt like doing, and though he had no idea why, he didn’t think he had any reason to question it either. 


	3. The pretty lights

The first time Jace had been to Alec’s house, he had been sure to watch every corner for impending danger. Just because _Alec_ was nice, that didn’t necessarily mean his parents, or family, would be. It’d taken him two whole months, in the first place, to even be convinced that the house would be empty, and that they’d be comfortable there, and could even do other things like eating snacks, playing video games, or watching TV. The last two, had eventually sold Jace.

He had never had a house as nice as Alec’s, growing up. He had also never had toys to spare, much less a good TV. Since his mother and he were always on the run, money was saved for _important_ things, like food, rent, and getaway funds. Everything else was a _luxury_ they could rarely afford. Not that his mom went out of her way to deny him, sometimes he had to be the one to tell her it was okay, when he knew she wanted to give him more. But, nevertheless, Alec’s home was ****impressive****. 

It had two whole floors in it, a fridge full of not only snacks, but sweets, and homemade desserts that Alec always insisted he had. Alec’s room was full of books, and comics, and toys, tossed haphazardly on the floor, and he had his own bathroom with a huge tub in it. On the backyard, they had a _swing_ , and a whole set up on the grass field for Alec to train his archery on, as well as another one, paved and a little closer to the house, which Alec said was for his sister’s ever changing hobbies, fencing, karate, and a bunch of other new words Jace had learned just from the topic alone.

More than that, it had Alec in it.

Alec was smart, so smart, and funny, good to talk to, and more patient than any person Jace had ever met. He was generous too, and if it weren’t for Jace’s fear of his mom finding out about his friend, he suspected his room would be stacked full of things Alec had wanted to give to him by now. He seemed to have an endless collection of things he no longer had any use for, he said, and that Jace might as well have. Jace had noticed some of those things seemed new. So he wasn’t so sure. But he couldn’t accept most of them, anyway, because if his mom saw them, she’d know he’d been disobedient, and risking them. And though she’d never yelled at him before, she _might_ , and moreover, she might make them ****move**** again. And Jace couldn’t risk that.

That was why he made sure to cover all of his tracks, and keep himself from talking about Alec at any cost. He didn’t like lying, and if he talked about Alec, he would have to. So he didn’t. 

He looked up as a sound alerted him to the open door, and his lips spread in a huge smile as he spotted Alec, balancing two plates with a big chocolate cake slice on each, and two juice boxes. Jace promptly got up, leaving the controller, to go help. The smell of the chocolate alone hit him as soon as he grabbed one. In moments like those, he thought that if Alec’s mom made things like these than she might really not be _that bad_ , after all. 

✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

Christmas was Jace’s second favorite time of the year after his birthday.

Wherever they went, everything always got brighter, more colorful, and beautiful for Christmas. His mother usually looked happier in December, with more energy and more smiles. Most years she’d take him out window shopping, and even buy them a treat like some chocolate, a cup of hot cocoa, or gingerbread cookies to eat, while they walked around and looked at the lights, the decorations, or watched people skating in the ice rinks. She’d sing around the house when she was home, and she’d generally find a little something on sale or that someone else had discarded for them to put up, or just bring home paper and glitter and make their own decorations with him. And when Jace woke up on Christmas day there was _always_ a present and a note lying outside his door, and pancakes on his plate.

_This_ time, Jace thought he’d pass out from excitement when he got to see the city for the first time since they’d moved and, halfway through their expedition, his mother had said they could actually rent their _own skates_ and give it a try. He had fallen only twice, and refused to cry either time, having too much fun to spoil it with tears. The next day, he had told Alec everything in their clearing, and the older boy had listened with a big smile on his face while they munched on his mother’s chocolate chip cookies and drank from Alec’s thermos filled with hot chocolate, both of which he’d brought from home.

He had seen him again on Christmas Day, when they’d both snuck out for a lightning fast meeting in the afternoon. Jace’s mom had work, but Alec’s parents were very much at home and looking for family time. The night before Jace had dreamed about Alec, that they both lived together in a church and that Alec had looked bright red even under the colored stained glass lights as he gave him a Christmas gift. Jace wasn’t sure what the carved knife was supposed to be _for_ , but his dream self had felt very excited nonetheless.

In real life, Alec had had almost the exact same look when he had gifted him a small batman figure. Jace would have protested if he didn’t know better by now, and if he didn’t really like it, so instead, he had hugged him tight, and before thinking about it, he had planted a kiss on his cheek. Because Jace couldn’t buy him anything as much as he’d like to, he had written Alec a small letter, personal. He had made him promise not to read it until he left and when he ran back home, he’d looked over his shoulder and seen Alec reading with his other hand pressed against his face.

Alec had stored Jace’s Christmas letter inside his favorite book and in the trunk by his bed under the pile of heavy extra blankets. And even as he’d ran downstairs for an intense round of draw and guess, his right cheek had still been burning with the ghost feeling of Jace’s cocoa warmed lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for now, to end on a Christmas's note ^-^
> 
> I hope you guys had fun!


	4. ✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

Jace had been home that evening, curled up inside Alec’s old winter coat and as close as possible to the oven which was going without any food in it, just to try and warm himself up enough so that he’d stop shuddering. Everything was gray outside, and inside wasn’t much better, the one lamp in the living room cast long gloomy shadows around him. His mom had an extra shift that night, and Jace felt morose at the prospect of a lonely, frosty, evening, so he’d been distracting himself by thinking about his friend.

Over the years he had learned how to do it with expertise: to play back entire movies in his head, made up half of memories and half of fantastical things. Hours and hours of dreams full of colorful and exciting places where he was never bored, punctuated by real moments of clear happiness. Lately, the latter half had increased in volume and frequency by a lot, to a point where sometimes he wouldn’t even _need_ to make anything up. He could just sit and think back to latest day or week with Alec, savoring every second again like it was new.

Jace had a new a book, tucked firmly between his chest and bent knees. Alec had given it to him that very afternoon, but he felt too cold to expose his fingers out of his toasty coat, and read it, just yet. He smiled however, thinking about how Alec had met him in their clearing despite the growing cold even that early in the day, sat with Jace on the high tree roots under the sun, and pulled the book out.

He had read from it out loud, most of the afternoon, all under the guise of “convincing” the blond that he just _had_ to continue the story by himself, and that he couldn’t ****miss**** it. Not that Jace had ever needed convincing to start a new story, but there was something nice about hearing Alec imprint so much _passion_ in his voice, and argue for something he was actually excited about. Instead of defending any of the many things he seemed to do only because he was supposed to. Jace was lost in the memory of his voice, the warmth he emanated pressed to him from shoulder to feet, and of how the story in the book began, when he felt a jab of shooting hot pain up his leg.

He also heard Alec _cry._

The sound effectively cut his own startled scream short, and he snapped his mouth closed to try to listen for more as he stood in his kitchen with his heart pounding.

The shriek had made him jump out of his seat, nearly out of his own skin, and it’d felt like a chord had been pulled out of him, right through his belly button. The book had fallen to the floor, forgotten. It was as though he’d actually stepped right into one of his stories, reality and dreams blurred on a level he hadn’t experienced before. And with his mind still foggy, he could only watch his own body as it stared wide eyed at the growing blackness through the window for a moment, before his legs started running.

Strangely enough it wasn’t the first time in the last six months that he’d felt his imagination was playing tricks on him _───_ granted it’d never been this strong or terrifying before. Since his first meeting with Alec _(he was pretty sure)_ there had been specific moments when some sort of pain, sensation or emotion, none of which he could explain but still _knew_ wasn’t his own, struck him. One time it’d been a wave of frustration so big he thought he’d never come up for air from it again, his screams shouted into the wood as he ran to try and push himself out of it by force. Another, it was quiet, a building anger all day long. And other two times it’d been physical, a sting on his arm, and a sudden headache. He hadn’t consciously connected it to the other boy before, but then again that would be weird if he had, and this was the first time he’d actually _heard_ Alec’s voice while having the alien feelings.

The air outside was painfully cold, enough so to get Jace’s spiraling mind to come to and catch up to his frantic body. He stopped and looked around, unsure, then immediately started running again. He didn’t known where he was running to exactly but he tried not to think too hard about it. As Alec would say, he tried not to _aim too much_.

He found him not far from their spot, crying, and clutching tightly to his right thigh with both hands, as the rest of his leg stretched out at a very unsettling angle. Alec looked up as Jace approached and halted, _both startled to see one another at first_ , and then Jace saw him take a deep shuddering breath as though trying to stop himself from crying and wipe his face _───_ at which he started moving again.

“I heard you.” The younger boy said immediately, out of breath, as he fell to his knees besides him, checking him over for any other injuries he hadn’t seen (or sensed). The way he said it, the bafflement in his voice, appeared to shock Alec into silence.

“Wha-What do you mean?” He asked, as his body gasped for air, after the way he’d wept.

“ _Heard you_ , inside, all the way back in my house.” Jace stated, more insistently, as he sat down and put a hand absentmindedly over Alec’s. He was looking at him with what he hoped was covert panic, as he wondered what exactly he could do there to help his friend. His other hand moved to touch his own belly on the left side. It felt like it was burning, slightly, and Jace had also learned to associate that, over the past months, with the other unexpected feelings and the sense that someone was in trouble, or at least deeply upset. It was stronger now though, and he knew in that moment for sure that it was and had always been about Alec. “What do I do?”

Alec stared for several seconds, dumbfounded, as he tried to wrap his head around what Jace was saying. When he’d said _inside_ he had touched his own head, and it’d confused Alec enough to distract him from the throbbing pain in his leg. _What did that mean?_ As Jace squeezed his hand, though, Alec took another raspy breath in, the pain making itself known again and brushing his confusion away. He tried to think about Jace’s question but he was spiraling. What he _wanted_ to do was ****beg**** for Jace to go get his parents but as soon as he opened his mouth to do it, he closed it again _. Jace couldn’t_.

“H...Help me up, and to the house. You- Can leave me close, I’ll call for mom and dad.” He said, trying to sound determined, brave maybe even, despite the stutter through his teeth. Jace seemed doubtful, but Alec just gave him a resolved look, and the other nodded.

“...Okay. What _happened_?” He asked him, as he started to move on to his knees, and wrapped his arms as well as he could around the him. If Alec weren’t so overcome by pain, using all of his faculties not to show it, he might have appreciated the moment. He shook his head instead, completely focused on what they were doing and on Jace himself, so he wouldn’t falter.

“Saw a kitten, high on the tree. It seemed trapped. It was _crying_. I tried to grab it, but branch broke.” He contorted his face, not to cry again, “dunno where it is now, and if it’s okay.” _Had Alec hurt it?_ Jace started to say something, as they finally got a good grip and stance to try and lift him to his feet, but the moment they did, Alec yelled, and the blond immediately put him back down, with a worried noise. 

“We’re too far. Can’t make it like that.” There was a pause as Alec breathed heavily, and Jace seemed to fret and struggle with something, Alec too preoccupied to give it proper attention until he spoke again. “I’ll go to the house. Get your mom and dad-”

“ _No!”_ Alec interjected, vehemently, and Jace twisted his eyebrows, obviously pained by both prospects: of doing and _not_ doing it. Alec shook his head. He couldn’t ****let**** him. Not now that he knew everything, knew what was at risk. He couldn’t let Jace risk himself, or even risk being whisked away somewhere Alec would never see him again, only because he had to be stupid and break his leg. More tears pricked his eyes, but they were mixed with anger now, and Alec fiercely ignored them as he reached out for the other, “ _we try again.”_ He said, determined.

Jace bit so hard on his lip Alec could see it whiten even in the dim light, as the sun was starting to go down for good. He wondered how far he could keep going when the cold spread even deeper through him than it already was. He wondered if it’d numb his leg down and make it easier, or if it would make it worse. He didn’t look away from the other though, not until Jace took a small breath in and moved to try once more.

Alec gritted his teeth until they hurt this time and clutched at Jace, grabbing onto his own old winter coat and groaning as he tried to suppress a whimper. They got up, after some long long seconds. Then they attempted a single first step and Alec _fell_ , Jace being barely able to break his fall, as he arched and then curled on the floor, shaking his head in tandem and trying not to cry, he was too _weak_. He felt Jace hauling him a second later, and tried to help as they got him back to a sitting position, resting against the tree trunk. Jace’s voice was hard then, “I’m _going_.” Alec would protest if he could make a sound, but he couldn’t, so he nodded instead.

As Jace ran, Alec watched him get smaller and disappear, and his mind flashed again with the image it had earlier. When he’d first fallen from the tree, when the pain had first struck him and he nearly passed out for a moment, before he came to again he’d ****seen Jace**** , _only it wasn’t Jace_. He was a grown up and he was smiling as brightly as he offered him a hand, his grown up voice asking Alec if he _needed “some help, bud?”_ It hadn’t been too long after that before real Jace had showed up _───_ running, out of breath and looking scared out of his mind and a little lost. As though he wasn’t sure what he was doing, or where he was going. And the doubled surprise had been what had startled Alec so badly.

_But those things weren’t real, right?_ He couldn’t have sent Jace a what- _bat signal?_ Or something. It didn’t make any ****sense**** , and Alec’s brain didn’t like that one bit. He frowned, and focused on clutching his leg and staring it down as he waited, trying not to let himself think about it. If Jace would be able to find him again, if his parents would be outraged by the boy’s surprise appearance, if they’d insist on calling Jace’s parents. If Alec had just ruined the one actual friendship he’d ever had besides his own sister.

New tears streaked his face, but this time he made a point to keep them silent.


	5. ✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

“You're gonna be okay now.”

Alec nodded at the whisper and squeezed Jace’s hand back, tightly. He looked at him, trying to ignore the growing tension in both of them as his father’s car rolled through the road that cut the way around the woods to Jace’s house. “Thanks to you...” He said softly in return.

Jace blushed. And it made Alec smile more, even when the blond rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t do anything.” He mumbled, and it was Alec’s turn to roll eyes at him.

“No. You just saved my life.” Alec was sure of it. If Jace hadn’t found him, how long would it had been before either of his parents did? Jace’s golden head came to rest on his shoulder and Alec took it as a victory, resting his own cheek on it as he closed his eyes.

And as he did, he prayed. Prayed to God that mother always said watched over them, to please not let Jace be taken away from him. He could hear Jace whisper again, but didn’t think it was meant for him, and he wondered if he was doing the same. As he opened his eyes, he found his mother’s ones looking at the boys carefully, her body half turned in the passenger seat. When she noticed him, she smiled. Alec’s heart started pounding when his father took the last turn.


	6. ✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

_“Open your eyes, Alec. Please? Open your eyes, parabatai.”_

_Jace held Alec’s hand as he pressed his forehead onto the back of it, and rocked on his chair, praying. He was riddled with guilt. Alec was hurt, and it was all his fault. All because of his ill timed comments and jokes, that gave Alec the stupid notion that somehow he needed to prove himself. As though Jace had ever thought he was anything short of amazing. Looking on at him, his pale complexion looked greenish, and he thought his skin looked almost breakable. Jace could hit himself. Alec had been poisoned by a demon because Jace hadn’t shown his appreciation for his bravery, enough._

_“I’m not worth this, Alec. Please don’t go because of me. I will drag the Silent Brothers from their catacombs if I have to. But you’re going to be okay.” A pause. The infirmary was quiet, only Alec’s shallow breathing and occasional whimpers echoing around the the empty place. Isabelle had gone help Hodge with trying to brew something to help Alec hold on, and would be back soon to trade with him. Jace felt both desperate to go and know he was doing anything of worth and overtly anxious at the thought of leaving Alec even for a moment. He opened his mouth, “I lov-”_

_Alec cried, and his leg was broken. Jace blinked and suddenly cold was going into his bones, pressing on his chest, and giving him a headache, and reach as he might, Alec was just a few inches too far from his grasping hand. All his will slipping over the damp leaves in the dark forest._

“Alec!” Jace woke up with a gasp. He shivered and pulled the cover further up to his ear, coiling in, his dream a confused blur in his mind. As he hugged the warm kitten in his arms tightly, he frowned wondering if Alec was still at the hospital, if he would need a cast, if Jace would see him any time soon. He missed him already. He wished he could be there by his side, to hold his hand while they put his leg back in place. Even if he screamed. He also had to give him Saber (he’d thought it was a good name for a kitten) because there was no way he could keep him despite all the trouble to find him in the dark woods, and Alec needed to know he hadn’t hurt him when they fell.

He heard sounds downstairs and quickly checked that his old blanket covered the thicker one Alec had given him entirely, and that Saber was asleep, before sinking further into the bed. Usually he would leap out and run down to meet his mom, no matter how late it was, if he heard her. But tonight he just felt a weight on him, on his mind and body, and didn’t want to go anywhere that wasn’t closer to Alec. Being with his mother meant being as far from Alec as he could go. And all he could think about, as he closed his eyes when he heard his door open and his mom check on him, was a continuous fervorous wish to have another life.

✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

“Would you like some more, Jace?”

Alec saw Jace nod and smile in that way he did, the one that made it feel like the sun was suddenly rising right in front of you. He said “yes, please, ma’am,” and Alec could just _watch_ his mother melting as she smiled back, and made him another plate. Izzy rolled her eyes besides him, and Alec noticed even rare amusement cross his father’s face, before he ducked his own head down and stifled a chuckle. Jace then proceeded to dig into his food after thanking and praising “Mrs. Lightwood,” blissfully unaware.

It’d been about two months since the incident. Alec had just barely got out of his cast and was working on regaining strength in his leg, and to his utmost surprise Jace and he had so far successfully kept either of his parents from demanding a meeting with Jace’s mother. Or, think of it, even asking too many questions. They were both seemingly content with the information Jace had to offer _───_ which really wasn’t much. _Izzy_ had said that they were probably so happy Alec finally had a friend that wasn’t her, that they’d overlook him even if he were yellow with purple dots. Alec had rolled his eyes and thrown a pillow at her head.

She knew, of course. His sister had never been easily dissuaded and truthfully she had known from day one. Back when he’d just _met_ Jace, and had been immediately accosted by her upon getting home; Isabelle wanting to know what was the reason for his apparent and unexpected happiness. Once Alec had got to know the blonde more and the reasons behind his secrecy, he had also shared those with her, knowing even before he asked that she would never tell on them. He hadn’t quite told Jace yet that she knew. Maybe because he was afraid he’d be mad, or because _───_ it kind of felt nice having _something_ all to himself for once, and if he told him, Jace might want to include Izzy into all of their time. Their private time. And Alec wasn’t ready to share it just yet.

Whatever the case was, with his parents, Alec couldn’t remember ever being happier in his life. Despite the broken leg the past month and a half, and though there were days he thought he might go crazy in his room, everything was made better, more fun and lighter because _most_ days Jace was now allowed to be with him. In his bedroom, and not as a secret. Laughing with him on his bed as they read comic books, watching TV together on the little one his father had dragged from the basement for him, and failing repeatedly at drawing pictures of Saber, his new kitten, on his cast. Jace getting either adorably frustrated or ridiculously proud of a depiction even Alec couldn’t call _good_.

When they got hungry, Alec didn’t have to pull food he’d snuck out of the house from his coat, neither had they to do a full on spy mission into his place just to grab a snack. His mother would come in without needing to be called, tray of homemade snacks in hands, and sparing hair pettings for both him _and_ Jace as she checked on Alec and made sure everything was okay. _She’d been taking some time off of work just to stay with him too, and Alec had never felt so spoiled_.

Even after, when the day was over, they now had it all figured out on how to make sure that Jace could be dropped off at home, to his mother’s peace of mind and without raising further suspicion.

On that first night, when Jace had brought them back to Alec, Maryse and Robert had put their son in the car and promptly refused to just leave Jace behind, no matter how _close_ the boy and Alec had swore that his house was. Alec remembered feeling the tension wafting off between him and the blonde the whole ride around the woods to his house, and it hadn’t been long though he wasn’t sure who had started it before they were holding hands tightly in the backseat. But once they’d got there the windows were lit, because when Jace had run off before he’d left everything as was in his rush to get to him.

Sensing his opportunity, Alec had then jumped in: told them Jace’s mom was _obviously_ waiting inside, and despite Jace tensing in that way he did whenever lies were involved he had still thankfully managed to nod when questioned. And between their worry for their son and the now mild snow storm outside, his parents had decided to believe them. They’d watch Jace run off into the house and then took off to the hospital.

From there it hadn’t been that hard to make it seem like an acceptable habit.

Every day Jace would sneak out close to sunset, run to his house, light everything up and come back. So that when they went to drop him off, it looked like someone was home. Alec was sure this wouldn’t last forever, his parents weren’t oblivious. But it seemed that, for now, both him being in a cast and Jace being so terribly charming had bought them some time. And when the questions inevitably started up again, Alec was sure he’d come up with _something else_ to keep Jace safe. Jace might not like lying, but Alec had never been above it if it meant keeping someone he loved out of trouble. He’d done it plenty for Izzy before and he would do it for Jace as many times as he needed to, even if and specially when, the blonde couldn’t do it for himself.

Once Jace helped him upstairs after dinner, for their customary last couple of minutes of the day, Alec lied down holding hands with him, both staring up at the collection of glow in the dark star stickers on his ceiling, and a small part of him almost wished he didn’t have to. That he didn’t _have_ to lie, and that Jace didn’t _have_ to go anywhere either.

Because in those last eight months since he’d met him, Alec hadn’t seen Jace as happy or carefree as he’d been in the past two. When they’d been _home_. With everything Alec was so used to, took for granted. The toys, the endless distractions, the privileges,his mother’s reliable care, his father’s eventual concern and sometimes odd gift or treat, and his sister’s after school company. Jace looked healthier than before too, less skinny, less like the untamed boy he’d appeared to be when he’d first tackled him in the clearing, the softness underneath showing more often.

And at times, after he was gone, late at night, Alec would lie in bed thinking about him. In his ever cold bedroom, under his thin cover, with his single pillow to keep him company, and it’d _break_ his heart. _He wanted Jace there_ , in bed with him, or in a bed next to him. Safe, warm, happy. He wanted to never again have to worry about if Jace had eaten that day, or if he was losing his mind alone in his house because his mom had a shorter shift than usual and he couldn’t come over. He wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything for himself, ever.

Alec tried to help. He had given him as many things as Jace had let him, over the months. Books, an old but heavy blanket, the winter coat that no longer fit him, comics, and even a mini game or two, like his old portable chess board. He had also formed the habit of not only bringing food for both of them to the clearing, but of bringing extras:another sandwich, or an unopened package of cookies or chips, anything he could give Jace to take home _───_ with any excuse he could come up with. But none of it ever felt like enough.

Not when Jace would go quiet sometimes, and suddenly tell him things. Like about a whole week he’d spent, years before they moved there, when his mother had been bed ridden, not sick but shadowy _(as Jace called it)_ and he’d thought he would go insane, before he ever starved. Or how it was so plain to see how much Jace both loved his mother and how sad she made him sometimes. Or how when he was even younger, too little to even understand the dangers of someone being after them, his mother would make up games for them to play. So Jace would be good and quiet, and hide or run with her and not be scared.

Even the seemingly simpler things haunted him. Like Jace having never touched a video game before; or how amazed he was that Alec got to watch cartoons any time he wanted, on their own TV; or that he didn’t have to worry about how long his baths were; or how many slices of pizza he had. A PB and J sandwich Alec made him couldn’t begin to fix that.

And when his mom called from downstairs, Alec watched as Jace got up and pushed Saber off of his chest and onto his own, as he smiled sadly and said goodnight, and he knew in that moment that he would do _anything_ to make it happen. To make sure that Jace was never that scared, lonely, or sad ever again. Or that, at the very least, he would always have Alec there to go to if he ever did.

✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

_“I told you, you just need someone to watch your back.”_

_Jace shuddered in his arms, and Alec held his parabatai closely, bone hurting tight. He had him back now, and he was never letting him go again. Never again would he shut his instincts down, and not listen to his heart, and close himself off to shut off his own pain and end up shutting off his parabatai’s too. Jace had been miserable, and haunted, and though Alec hadn’t been much better, he knew it’d been a mistake to leave him. Even for a week or a few. He would never do it again. Not like that._

_“I’ll never ignore my promise again.”_

_He felt Jace pressing his lips tightly to his shoulder and Alec sighed painfully. He should had never left him alone on that roof either. He thought he was doing the right thing, giving him a chance to talk to her, but after everything, Alec shouldn’t have left him. He should had been there to stop him, and keep him safe. He should had known better._

_“On this life or the next, I’ll never leave you.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot I want to add to this, and hopefully I'll get there :D Let me know what you think in the meantime!


	7. ✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

“Do you ever get tired?” Alec asked, watching Jace move around Isabelle’s fencing set up, swinging her toy sabre at the training dummies and jumping on and off the obstacles and porch steps behind him. Alec himself had been sitting on the bench under their pine tree and was trying to do his leg exercise routine, though they were really boring and Jace kept distracting him. The blond had sat with him at first, and even copied his movements from the sheet of drawings he’d been given by his physical therapist, but soon enough complained about it being tedious and went over to do something more _adventurous_.

These days Jace used Isabelle’s collection of half abandoned combat and semi started martial arts instruments more than his sister herself. He looked up at him at the words and smiled. Alec felt his stomach flutter.

“Not really.” He said, cheekily, before he pratically bounced over back to the bench and glanced down at Alec’s sheet then back at him, “Did you do everything?”

“Sure.” Alec crinkled his nose at the look he got, “No.” He shrugged, “you’re distracting and right. These _are_ boring.” He complained. Jace chuckled.

“I’m not the one with a hurt leg though.” He pointed out. Alec rolled his eyes.

“No, you’re not. Unless you count telephatic injuries.”

Jace hummed, sitting down besides him and playing with the saber from hand to hand on his lap. Alec thought he always seemed way too comfortable with anything he could hurt himself with.

“Didn’t feel it again since that night.” He said, and Alec turned to look at him, watching the way the sun bounced on his wind ruffled hair, the shadows of the leaves playing on it and on his sun kissed skin.

Jace looked like he’d just walked out of a story, just like he did half the time. Or more honestly nearly all the time. Studying him, Alec felt jealous, and then he felt bad. He had so much more than Jace, it was greedy of him to want anything Jace had for himself. Even if it _felt_ unfair for Jace to be so magnetic to everyone that met him, while Alec felt people had trouble even noticing his existence. He blinked when those tawny eyes suddenly met his. Oh. Right. He should answer.

“When did you get that?” He asked instead, pointing to a long white scar along Jace’s forearm. Jace looked down and made a face.

“When I was five. Falled running from _his_ men,” he always had that tone when he was talking about him, _Valentine Morgenstern_ , “crashed on a wire fence.” Alec winced, and rubbed his own arm as though he could almost feel it sting.

“You were five?” He asked, and Jace nodded with his own questioning look. Alec frowned. “I woke up one night feeling like my arm was on fire, I think it could be three years ago. I thought I was dreaming. I yelled so loud, mom came into my room.”

Alec heard Jace suck air in, and he felt his own heart speed. “I thought it was only after we met.” Alec nodded in agreement, he’d thought it too, that those weird things had started only after they’d met. But it was slowly becoming clear to them that that wasn’t the case.

“What do you think it means?”

“I dunno.”

He looked at him because his voice sounded contrived, and Jace did seem as confused as he at first. But then he blushed and looked away in a very telling way and Alec’s eyes darkened. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“ _Jace_. Tell.” He demanded. He watched the other boy tense, and Alec’s hands itched to touch him. There was such a fine line between what he could push Jace to talk to him about and when pushing at all would mean he’d get shut down on the subject either for days or for good. A minute passed, and Alec thought he wouldn’t get his answer before Jace suddenly spoke up again:

“There’s a book in your dad’s study. Blue leather cover with gold all over, you saw it?” Alec shook his head at the question, feeling he was holding his breath, Jace looked away again as he went on, “I looked through it, last week, while your mom was getting ready to take me home,” he added, slowly, “talked about people having some kind of link. That anc-old Greeks thought people came in pairs, first, and then the gods got afraid of them, and decided to divide them in twos. But that we still have that link, and _fate_...?” Alec nodded at him, encouragingly, at the doubtful look, “-can make some find this other self even if most don’t. That... Some of the great warriors and-” he seemed to hesitate, blushing, and shrugged “-that they were like that.” He swallowed, and Alec thought he was done, his eyes drifting as he thought, then Jace added, “that there’s a word for it: soulmates.”

Alec heard the birds chirping high above and the muffled sound of cars passing by in the distance as silence stretched between them, his blank eyes filled with the dark green of the grass under his feet. _Oh_. Alec knew that word. But he thought it was only for those silly fairy tale movies. For gross girl-boy things. And not real life. He’d never thought someone sometime had actually believed it, for real, like Jace was saying now. Like it was history. If it _were_ true, if there was any chance, maybe it could explain a few things. Or a _lot_.

They had been conjecturing over it for weeks now. Discovering more and more instances when they had apparently shared things they shouldn’t be able to, since they’d met. Things like pain, distress, at times happiness, or even dreams and nightmares. Things that seemed impossible from all Alec knew of the world, but also simply _were_ , whether his mind wanted to accept them or not. He knew Jace wasn’t lying. Most of all because he also knew _he_ wasn’t. They had never tried to trigger it on purpose so far, mostly because Alec himself had been too afraid to confirm it, to discover he was even more of a freak than he already felt at times, though Jace had wanted to. Now he regretted it a little, even if he was NOT okay with any plans that involved cutting, bruising, or burning. Jace had very strange ideas sometimes.

Before the blonde could run off or something, Alec grabbed his hand and took a deep breath.

“Soulmates.” He nodded, ignoring the way his ears buzzed making his own voice sound muffled. He didn’t care if it was true, he realized, he liked the thought of it. The thought that they belonged together in some fateful, inscrutable way, that even if they were pulled apart like they feared, they would inevitably find each other again. And at at any point, it was better than just thinking Jace and he were going crazy, that there might be something wrong with them.

He felt Jace relax besides him, and then he laced their fingers, making it Alec’s turn to blush and duck his head. He liked the way Jace did that, letting Alec know without a doubt that he was fine with the contact and wanted it too.

“Okay then,” he heard him whisper to the quiet afternoon, “ _soulmates_.”

✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

“Hey! No fair!”

“It is too!”

“Told you he’s good.”

Jace grinned proudly at Alec’s words, looking over at him just for a second, one second too long as he heard Izzy cheer and snapped back to the TV only to see his avatar get kicked in the belly and lose like 50 points.

“Hey!” Was his turn to exclaim, as he returned to furiously hitting the controller buttons, and Isabelle was the one grinning besides him.

“You said rules were boring!” She gloated, and Jace huffed but couldn’t help the smile from tugging at his lips. He _had_ said that, she was right, he couldn’t quite get mad now because she was breaking a few.

Jace liked Izzy. She was fun.

While he could spend days in Alec’s company and never tire, he’d found that daily doses of his bubbly sister after she came back from school weren’t as dreadful as he’d first thought they would be. In truth, she had quickly become the only second friend he’d ever had. She was quick to think, to talk, and to act, and when Jace was bouncing with energy, she seemed to reach his level very easily. It was impressive. He also didn’t care that she was a girl, his mom was a girl, and he’d only ever really known _her_ before he met Alec.

Sometimes they would jump around the room and drive Alec crazy, and Jace found a special kind of fun in that too. Even if at the end he’d always return to the older Lightwood, Izzy rolling her eyes when he did and calling them a matching set, before she went off to spend her energy elsewhere. Jace also knew Alec liked her too, a lot, despite all of his faces and all of their bickering. They loved each other, and it made him wonder what his life would had been like if he’d had a sibling. Someone to share the empty hours with, to talk to, and have a partner in crime in. Well, now he had two. He thought. Not that he’d tell them, cuz they would probably _laugh_ at him. Jace _wasn’t_ their brother, but he liked to pretend he was sometimes. And if he and Alec had agreed they were soulmates, that meant they were part of one another, right? That meant his family was maybe just a little bit Jace’s family too.

Not that Jace wanted to trade. But sometimes he wished he could join both into one. That he could have _both_ moms instead of one, that there could be more people to help him take care of his own mother, the way they took care of _him_ when he was there. That when the sun set he didn’t have to let go of Alec, but that he wouldn’t have to go to sleep without his mom’s singing and goodnight kisses either.

He was greedy.

And so he kept those thoughts to himself and instead appreciated everything he was already being given. And hoped in his heart that somehow it would still last a while longer. That he wouldn’t _have_ to go looking for Alec again any time soon. Or maybe, if the angels gave him a miracle, ever.

Izzy groaned as he struck the final hit, and Jace started jumping on the bed as she tossed pillows at him and Alec laughed.

Later they all lied on the bed, heads joined in a circle as Saber walked over and around them, and they talked about what their favorite superpower would be until Maryse called them from downstairs for dinner. Izzy ran off first, and Jace went down with Alec, their hands and shoulders brushing all the way down to the last step.

✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴.✴

Jace looked up when he heard the car door close outside. _Did Alec forget to tell him something?_ Frowning, he pulled away from the kettle he was going to heat up for his mom, when she got home, and stepped towards the front door. He hadn’t got to it when it opened, Mrs. Lightwood stepping in with a distressed Alec by her side. He took her in, feeling his eyes widen, and he only needed a quick glance at his best friend to know their jig was up.

His shoulders fell.

“Mom, _please_.” Alec tried again but Maryse only gave him a look before looking back at Jace, at Alec’s coat on him, and over him, to the stove, and around him, to the somewhat furniture-less living room and kitchen, and finally the two lit lamps sitting on the floor, one of which had been Alec’s night light at some point.

“Jace. Where is your mother?”

From her tone, Jace could tell she already knew the answer, or at least guessed it. For a lady that was now expecting a new baby, Mrs. Lightwood hadn’t lost any of her intimadting stature. Jace swallowed, and tried to resist the urge to look down. Honorable men didn’t look away from their wrongdoings. “...At work. Mrs. Lightwood.”

She sighed, behind her Alec mumbled something grasping onto her long dark winter coat now, but she continued to ignore him. “And how many times has she been at work when I left you here?”

Jace felt heat shoot up his cheeks. There was no use in lying now, even if he’d wanted to, and he never wanted to. Mrs. Lightwood had been so good to him, he hated that they had already lied at all. He opened his mouth and had to try a second time before he managed a clear answer, “All. All times... ma’am.”

“I imagined. Jace, does your mother _know_ where you’ve been spending your days at all?”

This time he did look down, too embarrassed, and shook his head as he felt his throat swell with fear and his head pound. She was going to tell her. _She was going to tell her everything_. His mother would panic. And they’d be gone before sunrise. Jace raised his eyes just enough to look at Alec, eyebrows screwed, watching the same distress he felt, reflected on his pale face. _They would never see each other again_.

“Very well. Why don’t we...” She seemed to hesitate for the first time, as she glanced around the place, eyes pausing on the sparse seating, “...Take a seat, and you both start by telling me what exactly has been happening here?”

Alec refused to sit down. Instead, he walked to Jace as his mother took the edge of the old single armchair, and stood besides him, as Jace sat just as uncomfortably in one of their rickety kitchen chairs. He crossed his arms and raised his chin, and stared his mother down with a frown. He was ready to jump to Jace’s defense at the smallest sign that she would take this the wrong way, or chastise him for what _Alec_ had encouraged him to do.

As Jace started speaking, though, he could see her expression slowly change.

He realized she probably thought they were just lying for some childish reason, and not that there was actual danger to be considered. She didn’t interrupt, which he was grateful for, and looked like she was listening carefully, and that lowered Alec’s defenses some, made him hopeful.

When Jace’s voice got tighter, Alec untangled his arms and put a hand on his shoulder, and for a while, the other reached up and held it in place, despite keeping his eyes either on the floor or on his mother as he spoke. Alec noticed his mother looking at their linked hands for a moment, and felt embarrassed, though he wasn’t sure why. Even as he heard the story for the second time, Alec struggled a little to grasp all of it. The kidnapping right after his birth, how Jace had told him he thought his mom knew why it happened, but wouldn’t tell him. His father chasing after the man, a fallen hero in Jace’s eyes, a fight, a gun - Alec shuddered - Jace’s mother knocking the man out somehow, taking Jace back. Running. Never stopping running.

When he finished, Alec could feel the silence.

They both looked at his mother, expectantly, as she looked like she was still trying to digest it. Alec wished he knew why too, even if only so he could give the reason to his mother, to makes sure she’d believe them. That she didn’t think this was another lie, a movie story, like it sounded like.

Finally, she spoke slowly.

“This man, Valentine _Morgenstern?”_ Jace nodded, and she continued, “He’s tried to take you when you were a baby, and has been chasing you both around the country ever since?”

Jace nodded again. Then pressed his lips nervously.

“We don’t _see_ him. But sometimes strange men come knock on our door, we’re followed. Sometimes strange people talk to me. Ask me things. Mom always moves us before gets too close. If-” He took a shaky breath in for the first time, and Alec squeezed his shoulder painful tight, “mother knows about. Alec. You. We’ll move again. Go away. My father went-away, _to Heaven,_ because of him.” He paused then and rubbed his face harshly with his fists, Alec felt his heart shrink.

“ _Will you tell?”_ Alec demanded, fiercly, intervening for the first time as he took half a step without notice, as though he thought that if he physically covered Jace with his body he could save him from this. Or maybe just protect him from view while he cried.

His mother offered him a guarded thoughtful look.

“Will your mother be home soon, Jace?”

Jace nodded. And his mother took a deep breath.

“No. I don’t think I will,” she said. “Not. _Right away_.” She added in a more severe tone when she saw them both perk up in twin motions. She looked down at her watch then nodded to herself, before getting up. “Alec, you and I are going home. If all of this is _true_ ,” she stressed the word with a look at them, pausing on Jace, and the blonde nodded earnestly, “it seems like a very _delicate_ situation. I will talk about this with your father. See how we might be able to help. We have contacts in law enforcement, good people, Jace,” she added with a kinder glance when the other looked confused, “they will help us know more about this man, _discreetly_ , and whether if you’re both still in danger or not. What to do, if you are. Perhaps then-” she paused, and Alec held his breath, “perhaps then Jace might not have to move again. At all.”

Jace slipped his grip before Alec could take notice, and ran past him to toss himself into his mother’s arms. Alec felt his soul sing with hope. _Was it possible?_ That his mom would help them for good? That Jace could stay? _Jace could stay._

Maryse made a gentle hushing sound and patted him on the head, holding him back with her other arm, as Jace gasped in through tears, overcome by relief. The thought that she would not only not tell on him right away, but try to _help_ them, consumed him. Jace had thought it’d be his mom and him against the world his entire life, before he met Alec. And even then, he had been careful, tried not to expect too much, tried to remember it could all end in an instant. He had never had an adult he trusted tell him it’d be okay because they could make it all go away, before. His mother tried to keep them safe as well as she could, and worked hard to provide for him, but she couldn’t make the fear go away. She couldn’t make the shadows stop following them.

He pulled away after a minute, rubbing his face and smiled, even as he felt his nose and face hot and his eyes stinging, “thank you, Mrs. Lightwood.” She gave him a look so similar to the one Alec used to give him when he thought Jace was being ‘unreasonably good’ that he was struck by it. He’d never realized just how intensely alike they were, before.

“Of course, sweetheart.”

As soon as he stepped back, Alec was on him, pulling him into a all encompassing hug, and Jace let out a grateful breath of laughter, as he buried himself against him painfully. Counting his heartbeats against his cheek to try and calm down his own. He’d found it was a surefire technique, as long as he did it with Alec, and it was no different now, his heart slowly falling into Alec’s rythm. After a moment, Maryse cleared her throat, behind them.

“Alec, we should go if you boys wish to keep this quiet for now.”

Alec pulled back with an eager nod, and looked at Jace in that fierce way of his that made him feel like he was being watched over by an honorable warrior - that whatever he said after, was sworn on his life. “ _I’ll see you soon_.”

Jace smiled and nodded in agreement. “Soon.”

As they walked out, Alec caught up and took his mother’s hand like he hadn’t in a couple of years, squeezing it as he said, “thanks, mom.”

She smiled down at him with some surprise in her eyes, “of course, Alec.” Once they’d entered the car, though, she added as she started it, “you are however obviously grounded for having lied to us for so long.” She gave him a serious look and Alec twisted his nose for a second but acquiesced, feeling he deserved it.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She patted his knee and drove them away. “I hope you realize now that you can always trust us with whatever you need, my son. This is a very serious matter, Alec, and you boys could have been put in danger, or you could have endangered your sister, by continuing to keep this from us.” Her tone was a little more severe now and Alec tensed. She was right of course, he hadn’t thought about it that way, but if the men that kept chasing Jace and his mom had ever followed him to their house they could had hurt all of them. Even if Alec wanted to think he could had protected them, he knew that wasn’t reality. He was no match for grown armed men.

“I do, mom. I’m really sorry,” he said honestly, and to his surprise she smiled.

“Thankfully none of that happened, and from now on we will make sure both of our houses have eyes on them until this situation is solved. Until then, no more sneaking around, understood?”

“Yes.”

Alec’s chest was warm with feelings of hope and that of Jace’s face against it, all the rest of the way home, and even as he went to sleep, actually excited to hear what his parents would have to say in the morning. Eager to hear that Jace and his mom would be okay. That they all would. That he wouldn’t lose his best friend over this. _Jace would stay_. And Alec looked forward to being his soulmate until they were old and gray and all of this fear was just a memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alec and Jace are official soulmates® now, and sometimes parents are helpful :D   
> Let me know what you think! More to come as always.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it so far guys! I will be revising and posting more as I can from this weekend on! I have the whole story planned, I just didn't have time to finish it the way I wanted to!! Let me know how you guys like it!


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